Applied research, experimental investigations, and descriptive investigations serve different purposes and methodologies within the research process. Here’s a breakdown of their differences:
Applied Research
- Objective: The primary goal of applied research is to solve practical problems and improve processes or products. It seeks to apply scientific knowledge to real-world scenarios.
- Focus: It often focuses on addressing specific issues or challenges faced by individuals, organizations, or society as a whole.
- Outcome: The findings are intended to inform policy or practice, leading to immediate application in a specific context.
- Examples: Health interventions, educational program evaluations, and market research.
Experimental Investigations
- Objective: Experimental investigations aim to test hypotheses through controlled experiments, manipulating variables to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
- Focus: These include laboratory experiments and field experiments, emphasizing the replication of results and the analysis of variables.
- Outcome: The results can contribute to theoretical knowledge as well as applied knowledge, but the primary focus is often on establishing causal relationships.
- Examples: Testing the efficacy of a new medication, conducting behavioral experiments in psychology.
Descriptive Investigations
- Objective: Descriptive investigations aim to provide a detailed account of a phenomenon, often through observation, surveys, or case studies.
- Focus: They describe characteristics, behaviors, or conditions without manipulating variables.
- Outcome: The findings are used to create a comprehensive picture of the situation and may inform future research or applied interventions.
- Examples: Surveys assessing public opinion, observational studies describing animal behavior.
Summary
- While applied research uses the findings from experimental and descriptive investigations to solve practical problems, experimental investigations focus on establishing causality through controlled conditions, and descriptive investigations seek to explain what exists without manipulation. They are interconnected but distinct in their purposes and methodologies.
If you were publishing a book or teaching a course based on the results of either an experimental or descriptive investigation, you would be presenting those findings in a way that translates them into practical applications or further theoretical discussions, depending on your audience's needs.